Raid: Toxic Slime Cavern (7)

"Thank you very much," I say with a humble smile as I slowly close the woman's eyelids with my right hand.

And so, only the leader was left.

[The gods are on the edge of their seats]

That's right… And I'll show you an even more fantastic show.

"ARGHHHH!" The leader shouts as he was pushed against the wall of the cave, and his only option was to swing down with his greatsword, killing three adventurers in the process.

His sword didn't even look to be stained with their blood as a blood-red aura, similar to my [Tangible Bloodlust], coated his sword.

Each swing of his killed at least one person… but he was all offense now.

As he had no defense, the mages were brutally bashing him with fireballs, and the earth mages were showering him in rock spikes.

He was a bleeding, burnt mess of a man who was eventually forced to take a knee after somebody sliced the back of his knee open.

His cries were like music to my ears as they were the fruits of my dangerous efforts…

"Now, I just need to complete this dungeon," I muttered as a drop of sweat ran down my cheek.

It isn't going to be easy now...

"ARGHHHH!" I heard the leader cry out in pain once again as he was dragged by his hair to the end of the cave where everybody circled around him.

"YOUR LEADERSHIP KILLED MY FUCKING BROTHER!" Somebody from the very back of the crowd pushed through and raised his sword before stabbing it into his chest.

"ARGHHHHHH!"

These animals… Well, I'll leave them be.

After a few minutes, the leader still wasn't dead as, despite everybody torturing him, nobody wanted to kill a human directly.

"What a bunch of pushovers," I muttered as I saw them throw the man's limp body out of the cave so the toxic slimes could consume him.

But right in front of me was a nice sack of XP… So I wasn't about to give that up.

"Fooooo… That was nice," I heard one of the mages breathe a sigh of relief, unaware of the hell they just created.

I didn't need them to actually kill the man now as I had already completed the side quest… It might've been because the system didn't really specify as it never said he had to die, but I just needed to make the adventures want him to die… or something like that, if that makes sense.

Also, I was a bit worried the "continue with the dungeon" part included the others, but it seems it was just me who needed the intent to continue.

.

[You have completed the Side Quest: Execute the Leader]

[Reward has been granted]

[The next Side Quest will be revealed once ready]

.

『Status』

[Name: Orion]

[Race: Human]

[Class: Spearsman]

[Level: 9/25] (73/100) XP Needed

[HP: 35/35 MP: 15/15 SP: 15/15] - Normal Human

[Strength: 22] - Normal Human

[Defense: 12] - Normal Human

[Magic: 16] - Normal Human

[Speed: 22] - Normal Human

[Skills: [Tangible Bloodlust] [Spear Coating]

[Passive Skills: [Toxic Immunity] [Toxic Body] [Night Vision]

[Equipment: [Toxic Barrier Necklace]

…

"That is beautiful," I muttered before sneaking out of the cave and making my way towards the location of the leader.

I also kept my guard up at all times as the toxic slimes could come out of nowhere.

But thankfully, my journey through the smelly cavern was peaceful all the way until I arrived at the leader's location… or where he was supposed to be.

He was gone but what was left was a trail of blood, so I knew he hadn't been consumed by slimes yet.

That means he was able to heal himself somehow… probably with a potion he kept in his boot, and then dragged himself away towards a more secure place… which is too obvious.

Well, it's not like he knew I orchestrated everything, so moving to a less conspicuous spot probably wasn't one of his worries.

First, I kneeled down next to the trail of blood and ran my finger along with it, feeling how wet the stain was.

It was pretty wet, meaning it hadn't been long since he left.

Next, I followed the trail of blood through the scattered forest while eliminating the solo slimes on my way there as it was free XP.

And finally, only after a few minutes, I placed my back against a tree and carefully watched the man fighting against a horde of toxic slimes.

"MOVE! I SAID MOVE!" What once was a leader shouted in anger and a bit of fear, blood dripping from his eyes.

They were tears that muddled with the blood on his face, creating a horrific scene that would've made any weaker-willed person queasy.

Suddenly, he swung his sword down at the massive slime blob, but it wasn't even able to penetrate an inch in, as the blood-red aura coating his sword had disappeared.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! HELP! SOMEBODY, PLEASE HELP ME!" He shouted as he tried to run around the blob, but it followed him.

He even tried to run away, but the blob circled around him...

"Hmmmmm..."

Ah, I have an idea.

"L-Leader!" I shouted upon twirling around the tree and rushing towards the man's aid.

The man looked at me as if I was a beacon of hope, and my spear was the flag that waved his worries goodbye.

Each time I tore through a core, the slime blob would shrink, and eventually, it would focus all its attention on me.

It exploded into a broader but thinner shape and then slowly circled me from one side.

Huh? What the hell is this thing doing?

All of a sudden, green and black tendrils shot from the wall, and I just barely managed to duck out of the way.

This was all happening while the leader was debating whether he should leave me to die or help me out... and he stayed true to himself as he stood beside me.

Wait... This thing isn't trying to kill us...

"What the hell," I muttered as the slimes tried to corner us against the wall of the cavern.